humility in latin and greek

As friends and family might confirm if asked, I’ve been a bit grumpy for the past few weeks. Spring is quite possibly my least favorite season. I’d take November through February in a minute if I could. Don’t get me wrong, there are some truly wonderful aspects of spring: the hyacinths, tulips, and lilies of the valley are beautiful and fragrant; the fact that I can open up all of the windows in my place makes me happy; baseball season is finally upon us in earnest. These are all good things, I admit.

However, spring also means a TON of work. Student papers pile up, committees trying to wrap up business for the year meet with more frequency (and for seemingly longer lengths of time), the need for letters of recommendation increases. The list goes on and on. However, the real reason I’ve been grumpy lately comes from having to write a STUPID prospectus for my dissertation.

PROSPECTUS: [a. L. pr spectus (- s) a view, PROSPECT n. So F. prospectus (1723 in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. A description or account of the chief features of a forthcoming work or proposed enterprise, circulated for the purpose of obtaining support or subscriptions. Also, a description or account of the activities of a school or other educational institution.

Now, the bitch of this situation is that I make my students write prospectuses all the time. In fact, as a teacher of writing, I honestly believe writing a prospectus is *the* most useful exercise a writer can do. Even drafting the shortest plan or outline forces the writer to stop for a minute and THINK about what it is she wants to say. I can’t imagine assigning a paper of more than five pages in length without asking for some sort of writing plan or prospectus.

However, when it came time for me to write one for my dissertation (final page count probably in the 175s to 200s) I felt insulted and put upon. Why did I have to take the time to write up this now 30-page document just to explain to my dissertation committee what I was going to write about? Why couldn’t I simply jump into the reading and researching (which is the part I like best anyway)? Obviously my committee is torturing me, I thought.

Mind you, now that I’m almost done with it, I recognize the importance of the exercise. I know I could never write my dissertation without it. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve complained about it pretty much non-stop to whomever I can force to listen to me. And that, my friends, makes me a

Hypocrite [a. OF. ypo-, ipocrite (mod.F. hypocrite), ad. eccl. L. hypocrita, ad. Gr. an actor on the stage, pretender, dissembler, f. ]
1. One who falsely professes to be virtuously or religiously inclined; one who pretends to have feelings or beliefs of a higher order than his real ones; hence generally, a dissembler, pretender.

So, there you have it. A nice fat slice of humble pie...